


absolution

by nowrunalong



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-04
Updated: 2017-11-08
Packaged: 2019-01-29 04:27:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12623192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nowrunalong/pseuds/nowrunalong
Summary: “Can you keep your voice down?" Chloe hisses. "There’s a reason I quit.”“Do tell,” Lucifer says, clasping her hands together and fixing Chloe with an interested smile. “I’ve always wanted to know why Los Angeles’ favourite guardian angel clipped her wings. I mean, I know why I did mine, but I suspect your reason is much more righteous and mundane.”the one where chloe's an ex-superhero and lucifer's a woman.





	1. Chapter 1

It's raining when Chloe arrives at the nightclub, and she hadn’t packed an umbrella. She’d made sure, of course, that Trixie had had one in her backpack when she’d left in the morning. Trixie had also had breakfast, and a kiss on the cheek. Chloe hadn't had either of these things.

The rain doesn’t bother her excessively. Others are putting up umbrellas or covering their heads with their purses as they hurry down the street, looking to arrive at their destination as quickly as possible, but Chloe barely speeds up as she makes her way toward the door of the club. The rainfall is sparse, but large water droplets have formed rivulets down her cheeks and flattened her hair by the time she’s shown her invite to the bouncers and crossed the threshold.

The first thing Chloe notices, other than the strippers and the giant illuminated letters spelling out the word ‘LUX’, is the woman at the piano. There’s a spotlight on her, illuminating her dark hair and her sharp smile. She looks around the room as she sings; Chloe’s about to turn away, intent on finding the guy who’s supposed to turn up here tonight, when the woman meets her eye.

 _Recognition_.

She’s never seen this woman before, but her smile grows wider—Chloe feels unsafe, suddenly. Unmasked.

“Excuse me,” she says to the man next to her, shoving past him. She has a job to do, and as long as this lady doesn’t make a scene, she’ll be able to find the guy, interrogate him, and get the hell out of here.

“Excuse me,” the woman at the piano says, pausing mid-song, and Chloe doesn’t know her but she still thinks she can hear the grin in that voice. She has a British accent; Chloe hadn’t noticed it when she’d been singing. “I’ll be back later; don’t you worry.”

Chloe looks back to see the woman getting up from the piano and hurries her pace unwittingly, wiping rainwater from her face as she moves toward the bar.

Most people have congregated in the middle of room around the piano and the dancers, leaving the corners relatively empty. Chloe sits down at the very end of the bar. The bartender looks up from cleaning glasses and smiles, evidently ready to fetch her a drink, but Chloe shakes her head. “Just here to get away from the noise.”

“Oh, come on,” a voice says from behind her. “Have a drink, Detective.”

Piano Woman sits down next to her.

“Look,” Chloe says. “I don’t know who you are, or why you know who I am—”

“Lucifer Morningstar, owner of Lux, and the devil herself.” The woman holds out a hand, still smiling widely, and Chloe shakes it uncertainly.

“Your name is _Lucifer_?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know yours,” Lucifer says.

“Chloe Decker,” Chloe says. “LAPD.”

Lucifer laughs. “You really _are_ a Detective?”

“Yes,” Chloe says tersely.

“Tell me, did you become a cop before or after you dropped your moniker?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Of course you do, Detective. I mean—you’re _The_ Detective. I recognized you immediately.”

“Can you keep your voice down?" Chloe hisses. "There’s a reason I quit.”

“Do tell,” Lucifer says, clasping her hands together and fixing Chloe with an interested smile. “I’ve always wanted to know why Los Angeles’ favourite guardian angel clipped her wings. I mean, I know why I did mine, but I suspect your reason is much more righteous and mundane.”

“Right.”

“Well?”

“Why would I tell you? Chloe gestures between them with her right hand. “We don’t know each other.”

“I know you. Or at least, I’d like to.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re like me, Detective. You were positively _divine_. The whole world would have done your bidding; worshipped you. You gave that up. So did I.” Lucifer smirks then. “Mostly, anyway.”

“You have…” Chloe drops her voice. “You have superpowers, too?”

“Well. In a manner of speaking.”

“So Lucifer Morningstar’s like your superhero name.”

“No,” Lucifer says. “Just my name. Dad-given, I’m afraid. I’m the devil. Do keep up.”

“Mm-hmm. Right. You know, I have a job to do, so I’m just gonna—”

“I’ll only take up a few more minutes of your time, Detective. I’ve been _dying_ to ask you these questions ever since I came to Los Angeles.”

Chloe sighs and turns back to the other woman; really takes her in this time. She’s wearing an open white blazer over a black dress—V-neck, low-cut. The outfit is so streamlined, new, and evidently expensive that her pendant—an old silver coin—looks ever so slightly out of place.

“Little gift from my father,” Lucifer says dismissively, fingering the necklace. She’s wearing a clunky ring on one finger. “Normally I’d burn any gift of his, but this little trinket does have its purpose, so I keep it handy. Unless that’s not what you were looking at.” She hooks a finger into the neckline of her dress and smirks.

“I was looking at the pendant,” Chloe says briskly, although she can feel her cheeks colouring. “And I came here to ask the questions. Not answer them.”

“But you _want_ to answer them. Don’t you, Detective?” Lucifer leans in close; the smile on her face can only be described as _devilish_. “Tell me: why did you hang up your cape? You’ll feel better once you tell me; you _know_ you will. Secrets only eat at you from the inside.”

Chloe looks back at Lucifer; looks at her open eyes, and her devilish smile—compelling but utterly insincere—and laughs. “Is this supposed to be your superpower?”

“Fascinating,” Lucifer says, leaning back against the bar and resuming a more natural expression. “You’re the first person to resist my charms.”

“Your ‘charms’, huh.”

“You’re my kryptonite, Detective! Hmm—never thought I’d say that.”

“So—what? ‘The power of my eyes and my English accent compels you to tell the truth’?” Chloe imitates Lucifer’s accent.

“That’s about the scope of it, yes.” Lucifer looks a little miffed now. “Amongst other things.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“You can fly like Superman but you don’t believe in the devil?”

“Okay,” Chloe says, playing along. “Let’s say you do have superpowers. Can I offer you some advice?” 

“I’d love to hear it.”

“Keep them to yourself.”

“What?”

“Keep your… your _abilities_ … to yourself. Get a normal job. Live a normal person’s life.”

“Why on Earth would I want to do that? Hang on—why would _you_ want to do that? You saved thousands of people when you were _The_ Detective, Detective. Isn’t that what matters to you?”

“People were—” Chloe stops. _Terrified_ , she thinks. _People were terrified—of me._

“The world doesn’t need superheroes. It needs everyday heroes. It needs ordinary people to define what a hero is.”

Lucifer scoffs. “Ordinary people don’t have what it takes.”

“Yes,” Chloe says, “they do. Please, Lucifer. It’s not worth the chaos it brings.”

“What’s not worth it?” Lucifer says, and Chloe feels like she’s being tested.

“Being a superhero.”

“So now you’re a police officer.”

“My dad was a cop,” Chloe says, nodding. “He was a good man. He made all the difference in the world to me. When I got older, I found a new appreciation for what he was: a hero.”

“And you’re following in his footsteps.”

“If you tell _anyone_ —”

“What? You’ll burn me to death with your laser eyes?”

“I would _never_ —”

“I’m teasing you, Detective. Your secret’s safe with me—the devil keeps her word.”

“Uh-huh. I mean it, Lucifer.”

“So do I!”

“Okay,” Chloe says. “I have to go. I have a _job_ to do. Remember?”

“Yes, of course. Keeping Los Angeles safe without a cape or a catsuit—I do miss the suit, you know, Detective; it really emphasized your— _ow_! Did you _mean_ to do that?”

Chloe had stepped on Lucifer’s foot. Hard.

“I’ll do it again if you don’t shut up.”

“Oh, threatening—I like that. Do it again?”

Chloe rolls her eyes.

“Until we meet again, Detective!” Lucifer calls after her.

Chloe hopes desperately that they never do.

—

“How was the party?” Dan asks her at the precinct as she pours herself a coffee the next morning. “Did you find your guy?”

“Yeah. He wants to talk. I’m bringing him in later.”

“But?” Dan asks.

“Hmm?”

“You looked like you were gonna add something. Something maybe not so good.”

“Oh,” Chloe says. “It’s nothing.”

“Okay,” Dan agrees, and Chloe appreciates that he won’t push.

“I met the owner of the club,” she admits. “She kind of… I don’t know. Threw me off-balance.” Chloe looks around; several of her colleagues are milling around the break room, and she feels exposed.

“Off-balance how?”

Chloe drops her voice to a mumble. “She knew about me.”

“Knew what?” Dan frowns.

“She recognized me, Dan! As soon as I walked in.” Before Dan can react, Chloe adds, “and she goes by _Lucifer_. Like the devil. She claims she’s… like me.”

“Is she?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you think she’s dangerous?”

“I don’t know.”

“We could look into her, if you think she’s going to be a threat.”

“No,” Chloe says, shaking her head. “No, I’m being silly. I just got spooked because no one’s recognized me in years. Forget I said anything.”

“Are you sure?”

Chloe suddenly regrets bringing it up at all. She likes to ask questions, but she’s never liked being on the other side of an interrogation. It’s easy when you know the answers, but when you don’t know what you want—

“Yeah,” she says. “I’m sure.”

“I think Trixie missed you last night,” Dan says, saving Chloe from changing the subject herself. He smiles. “She wanted us to get a third slice of chocolate cake—one for you, she said.”

“You’re sure she didn’t just want a second piece?” Chloe says, but she smiles, too.

“That might have been part of it.”

“Dan?” Chloe says.

“Hmm?”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Chloe.”

Chloe doesn’t stop again to think to think about the woman who’d seen right through her at the nightclub. She’s an everyday hero now, and she has a job to do.


	2. Chapter 2

It’s months later before Chloe hears from her again.

Except that she doesn’t so much hear _from_ her as she does hear _about_ her.

She’s off-duty when she gets a text from Dan.

_Turn on the news. You’ll wanna see this._

Chloe watches as Lucifer takes five bullets to the chest outside the National Bank and barely flinches. 

“It’s been ten years since The Detective hung up her cape and disappeared amongst the rest of you ordinary people,” she tells the cameras. “I’m here to selflessly dedicate my time and, of course, my extraordinary, _inhuman_ abilities to save you all.”

Chloe groans.

—

Naturally, Lucifer makes all the headlines the next day.

“Is she a superhero?” Trixie asks at breakfast, little hand tapping Lucifer’s face on the cover of the LA Times.

_A super idiot_ , Chloe thinks, wishing that Lucifer had at least thought to disguise herself before getting her name stamped all over the front of every news outlet.

“Yeah, monkey,” she says aloud, and gives Trixie a smile. “She’s a superhero.”

Trixie grins widely, eyes lighting up. “Cool!!”

“It is pretty cool, huh?”

“I wish _I_ was a superhero,” Trixie says. “Then, I could keep you safe.”

“I’m careful, monkey,” Chloe says, and kisses the top of Trixie’s head. “Don’t you worry about me, okay?”

—

“I can’t _believe_ her,” Chloe says to Dan at lunchtime, holding up the front page of the Times. “Is she _trying_ to get herself killed?”

“She’s bulletproof, Chloe,” Dan says. He looks annoyingly unconcerned. “Hang on. Do you know her or something?”

“No,” Chloe says. She lets out a deep breath. “Not really. We just met once. She recognized me at that nightclub, remember?”

“Oh yeah. Didn’t you say she owned the place?”

“I did,” Chloe says, nodding. She’d forgotten that detail. “I might drop by tonight. See if I can have a word with her.”

“She’ll be surrounded by media. What would you say to her, anyway?”

“I don’t know,” Chloe says, frustrated. “But she’s new to this, and she’s acting like an idiot. I’m the only one in LA who has any experience with… this. I feel… I don’t know. A sense of responsibility for her.”

“That’s crazy, Chlo. Just because you’re… _you_ … doesn’t mean you’re responsible for the next person that comes along and tries to take your place.”

“You’re right,” Chloe says, because he probably is.

—

Lux is even more packed than the last time. No one is at the piano today, but there is a large crowd of people at the bar. “Excuse me,” Chloe says, but the crowd doesn’t part for her. She could use her badge, but Lucifer isn’t in trouble. Not yet, anyway.

She jumps, trying to get eyes on whatever it is everyone is looking at and sees…

Lucifer, doing shots with a camerawoman.

“Do you have nowhere better to be?” she snaps at the woman beside her, and bodily pushes her way through the crowd. “Lucifer,” says, and Lucifer turns around.

She grins immediately. “Detective! You’ve come to join the party! Come on, drinks are on me tonight.”

“I’m just here to _talk_ ,” Chloe says. “Do you have anywhere a little more… private?”

Lucifer sighs exaggeratedly. “I’ll be right back, loves. This charming detective needs a moment of my time.”

—

“You _live_ here?” Chloe says, stepping out of the elevator into a luxurious penthouse with multiple leather couches, a second piano, and a wall of hard liquor that would impressive if she weren’t so annoyed.

“You sound surprised, Detective.”

“I guess I thought you’d have—I don’t know. An entire condo tower somewhere.”

“Hm. I’m sorry to disappoint.”

“Right,” Chloe says, nodding seriously. “I’m disappointed.”

“Are you sure I can’t get you a drink, Detective?”

“I’m positive.”

Lucifer shrugs and walks over to the bar anyway; she pours herself a glass of whiskey as Chloe continues to stand in the middle of the space, unsure where sit.

“Anywhere’s fine,” Lucifer says.

Chloe chooses a couch and Lucifer sits next to her, downing her whiskey as she does and setting the empty glass on the coffee table. She’s dressed similarly to the last time, but this time it’s a black blazer over a red dress. She’s still wearing the coin-shaped pendant and the clunky ring.

“I saw you in the news,” Chloe says finally.

“I hoped you would.” Lucifer grins. “I must say, Detective, I had even more fun than I imagined. I really can’t see why you would give this up.”

“I explained that to you.”

“In part,” Lucifer says. She glances over at the bar like she wishes she had another glass.

“How much have you had to drink tonight?”

“Are you going to scold me for having fun, Detective?”

“I’m just curious, actually,” Chloe says, shrugging. “You’ve obviously had a lot, but you don’t seem drunk. Is that one of your superpowers?”

“It’s a bit of an annoyance sometimes. I need several glasses before I start to feel the effects.”

“I don’t.”

“Fascinating,” Lucifer says. “You’d think a superhuman like The Detective could drink as much as she likes.”

“I don’t like to test my limits.”

“I _love_ to test mine.”

“Is that why you let five separate people _shoot_ you?”

“There was a hostage situation, Detective. Someone needed to intervene and save those helpless bankers.”

“How did you know you wouldn’t _die_?”

“You sound angry,” Lucifer says. She seems delighted by this. “Tell me, Detective: are you worried about me?”

“Answer the damn question, Lucifer. How did you know you wouldn’t die?”

“Easy. I’m immortal. I thought we covered this last time—the whole ‘I’m the devil’ bit.”

“Lucifer—”

“Why are you _really_ here, Detective?”

“You’re being reckless.”

“And?” Lucifer grins.

“And it’s going to end with someone dying!”

“How many times must I explain—”

“You may think you’re immortal,” Chloe says, shaking her head, “but you’re not the only one involved in these types of situations. We have trained police officers for a _reason_ , Lucifer. What if those robbers had decided to shoot at the hostages instead of you?”

“They wouldn’t—”

“You don’t know what they would or wouldn’t do!” Chloe explodes. “You are endangering yourself, and you are endangering citizens, so _do not_ be surprised if you end up _arrested_ sooner than later for reckless behaviour.”

“Does that involve handcuffs?”

Chloe stares incredulously at Lucifer, whose stupid, smug face still looks excited and not even remotely worried. In the wake of Chloe’s glare, she sighs.

“Not a joking matter?”

“ _Not_ a joking matter.”

“You are the oldest young person I have ever met.”

“And you are… infuriating. Stop smiling! That wasn’t a compliment.”

“Detective,” Lucifer says seriously. Her dark eyes soften and she looks almost like a normal, reasonable person for a moment. “Have you _ever_ had fun, even when you were a superhero?”

“Of course,” Chloe says, frowning.

She remembers the feeling, even if it’s been years since she’s flown. It had been exciting, and freeing, and—fun, even. But it had also come with a lot of responsibility. She had recognized this from the beginning because she had always been a responsible person.

“There’s more to it than having fun. You have to think about everyone else involved.”

“I am! Sort of. I saved those bankers.”

“Out of the goodness of your heart?”

“Why else would I do it?”

“Lucifer, you didn’t even try to hide your identity! Why would you do that unless you wanted to be recognized?”

“Don’t tell me you didn’t like the publicity, Detective! Of course, it’s not like I’d ever been turned down by anyone before, but I was propositioned about _fifty_ times today, which is a record, even for me—”

“Oh my God,” Chloe says, stunned.

This woman is unbelievable.

“Believe me, he has _nothing_ to with it,” Lucifer says.

“You’re doing this to get people to sleep with you?”

“Of course not! That’s just a happy side effect.”

“I can’t believe you.”

“I assure you, I’ve told you nothing but the truth since we first met.”

“Yeah,” Chloe says. “Right. You know what? I’m leaving. You can do whatever the hell you want. But if you end up dead, or in jail, don’t say I didn’t tell you so.”

She’s halfway back to the elevator when Lucifer calls after her.

“Is that really why you came to see me?”

“Why else would I come here?” Chloe says. She turns around, and Lucifer is standing right behind her with a smirk on face. Chloe hadn’t noticed how tall she was before now.

“Maybe you wanted to be number fifty-one.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I _don’t_ want to sleep with you.”

“Why not?” Lucifer says, pouting. “You and me. The only two people in Los Angeles with superhuman stamina. I bet it’d be tremendous.”

“Never gonna happen.”

“You’re blushing,” Lucifer says, taking a step closer. “You can’t tell me I don’t have any effect on you.”

“You…” Chloe says, pausing to decide exactly how she wants to finish this sentence, “drive me insane. You are reckless, you are unreasonable, you’re inappropriate, and I will never, ever sleep with you.”

“Yes,” Lucifer says, nodding. “I’m also unbelievably attractive, wealthy—hang on. Did you just turn me down?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Chloe says emphatically.

“Fascinating. You really _are_ my kryptonite, Detective—and believe me, I didn’t think I’d say that again.”

This time it’s Chloe who takes a step closer; her nose is almost touching Lucifer’s now.

“There are things that you rely on,” Chloe says deliberately. “Your ability to see the truth; your ability to seduce. What are you going to do when your ability to take a bullet to the gut leaves you bleeding out on a sidewalk? Think about that the next time you want to make the front cover of the Times.”

She brushes past Lucifer into the elevator and hits the down arrow.

Lucifer doesn’t follow her this time; just watches Chloe interestedly as the doors close, blocking her from sight.

“You idiot,” Chloe says under her breath. “You better listen to me this time.”

It’s too much to hope for.


End file.
